1. Jane Austen
2. Jack Vance
3. Raymond Chandler
4. Dashiell Hammett
5. John Barth
6. Thomas Pynchon
7. Fritz Leiber
8. John O’Hara
9. Agatha Christie
10. Anthony Trollope
11. Norman Mailer
12. Samuel Johnson
13. Joseph Epstein
14. Henry James
15. Joan Didion
16. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
17. Andre Norton
18. Robert Heinlein
19. Isaac Asimov
20. Leigh Brackett
21. H. P. Lovecraft
22. Robert Bloch
23. Donald Westlake
24. John Brunner
25. Clifford Simak
All those would be on my list, too, if it could include a hundred. I hate having to leave anyone off.
Like Patti said, if you asked me for 25 writers next week the list would be different.
This is a very eclectic list. The most varied one I’ve seen.
“Eclectic” is my middle name. I enjoy a wide range of genres and appreciate excellent writing in many forms. But like Bill Crider, I could name a 100 writers whose work I admire. This list of 25 is just the tip of the iceberg.